Mothercare adds to the high street gloom

The mothers-to-be, babies and children’s goods retailer, which this year celebrated its 50th anniversary, said a downturn in consumer confidence seen following the UK riots continued to knock trading over the last month.

In an update which triggered a 35 per cent slump to 201p, wiping around £100m from its market value, Mothercare said UK like-for-like sales were down 9.6 per cent in the 12 weeks to October 1 and that the outlook for the all-important winter trading period had “materially worsened”.

The group has 353 stores in the UK and another 969 overseas, where its operations have proved to be more successful.

Chief executive Ben Gordon said: “In the UK, trading conditions have become progressively more challenging and competitive, and our performance has been well below our expectations.”

Mothercare said sales in the home and travel sector were affected by customers trading down on bigger ticket items. Mr Gordon added: “Against the backdrop of this weakening trend, we believe that the outlook for the UK business in the important second half has materially worsened and this is likely to lead to a disappointing performance for the year as a whole.”

Overall, group sales were 4.9 per cent higher in the company’s second quarter.